Metacam

50Twuncle · 29 September 2017 at 12:02PM

We have just had our 13 year old cat - at the vets for dental work (cleaning teeth and removing 3 teeth !)
He was done, yesterday and today - he has been started on a course of Metacam pain killers
He doesn't appear to be in any discomfort at the moment.
We have experience of the side effects of Metacam from another cat - who was put on the same drug by the same vet - he was extremely sick and we stopped the drug !
Why do vets insist on using the same drug without looking in to history of patients owners ?
There must be an alternative drug that we can use ?
Any advice welcome

annandale · 29 September 2017 at 1:09PM

Why would one cat have a reaction to this because another did?

elsien · 29 September 2017 at 1:16PM

I would agree - your other cat having issues isn't relevant to the options for this one. However if you have concerns about the metacam, what did your vet say when you asked about alternative pain killers?
I know metacam can cause issues for some animals but that isn't always the case - my last dog took it for years with no ill effects.

Fosterdog · 29 September 2017 at 4:07PM

My last but one dog was on metacam for several years with no ill effects, my last dog couldn’t even get through a week on it without projectile vomiting and diarrhoea. Why would the vet even consider the owners history with a drug? It’s the actual animal that needs to be considered and there are hundreds of thousands of animals taking metacam every year with no issues so they would hardly assume that just because it didn’t work for one of your animals it should never be given to your others.

Kathy535 · 29 September 2017 at 9:41PM

My vet insisted on a liver (?) test before putting my cat on Metacam. He's had no problems, if anything it's given him a new lease of life - he's old and arthritic, within 1 week of metacam he was bringing us mice and rats again. So nice.

Fosterdog · 30 September 2017 at 2:02PM

Kathy535 wrote: »

My vet insisted on a liver (?) test before putting my cat on Metacam. He's had no problems, if anything it's given him a new lease of life - he's old and arthritic, within 1 week of metacam he was bringing us mice and rats again. So nice.

It’s common for them to run tests if it is going to be long term use but for short term use it would be pointless.

50Twuncle · 30 September 2017 at 3:10PM

its only 3 days worth and so far - so good - no reaction at all !!

gettingtheresometime · 30 September 2017 at 10:43PM

Metacalm knocks my mutt out for six.

As he's a beagle I'm torn between the fact he has needed it for pain relief & the quiet life it's given me

50Twuncle · 1 October 2017 at 9:05AM

Doesn't it see strange that according to the drug manufacturers - it only causes minor side effects on extremely rare occasions ?

Merlin's_Beard · 2 October 2017 at 10:34PM

Not really - when it's a drug that gets used in every operation and every sore leg and every elderly arthritic pet in the country near enough, then even if only 1% of animals have side effects then that's still a lot of animals! And the 1% where something went wrong are going to be more vocal about it than the 99% who had no problems and barely remember what it was called.

Also bear in mind that the words like "common" or "uncommon" are specifically tied into percentages of side effects by regulation from the European Medicines Agency when on a datasheet - the company doesn't really get a choice.

50Twuncle · 3 October 2017 at 9:09AM

Merlin's_Beard wrote: »

Not really - when it's a drug that gets used in every operation and every sore leg and every elderly arthritic pet in the country near enough, then even if only 1% of animals have side effects then that's still a lot of animals! And the 1% where something went wrong are going to be more vocal about it than the 99% who had no problems and barely remember what it was called.

Also bear in mind that the words like "common" or "uncommon" are specifically tied into percentages of side effects by regulation from the European Medicines Agency when on a datasheet - the company doesn't really get a choice.

Just google "Metacam problems cats" and tell me that this is an uncommon problem ?
From a US report http://www.optimumchoices.com/images/MetacamRisksInCats.pdf
Metacam Oral,
which summarize drug side effects reported by veterinarians.
Of 842 reports for dogs, 19 cases of kidney failure and no
deaths were reported. However in 320 cats, 105 cases of
kidney failure, 48 deaths and 35 cases resulting in euthanasia
have been reported. This clearly indicates that Metacam poses
a much greater risk in cats than in dogs

This is far FAR higher than 1%

Metacam

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